In the prior art, a number of techniques are employed to hang a wall article such as a picture, painting, mirror, tapestry, etc. One such technique employs a nail or other member that is attached to the wall, whereby the nail acts as the support for the article to be hung. The article to be hung can then be fitted with a wire, and the wire is slipped over the protruding nail to support the article. The article can also use other types of hanging devices such as serrated plates that are attached to the back of a frame, with the nail engaging one of the serrations on the plate for frame support. The article can also be hung by attaching a hanger device having a loop, whereby the nail would engage the loop for article support.
Another class of wall article hanging devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. D339,981, 5,328,139, 5,588,629, 5,758,858, and 6,095,478 to Barnes. These patents run counter to the conventional wall article hanging techniques that first attach an element to the wall, and then hang the wall article off that wall element. In the Barnes' patents, a hanging device is first attached to the wall article to be hung, and then the wall article is secured to a wall surface. Using the Barnes' device and method, there is no need for locating a nail or the 0.10 like at a predetermined location on the wall so as to position the wall article in the proper location. That is, the wall article itself is used for positioning in the proper site on the wall.
The Barnes' devices are also advantageous in that the wall article is secured in such a fashion that the article remains stationary after attachment, and the constant article leveling that goes on when a wire and nail are used is eliminated.
The hangers of the Barnes' patents are designed to be attached to a wall article frame using prongs of the device itself or fasteners. However, these attachment techniques are not particularly suited for wall articles that employ metal frames. These metal frames usually come in four pieces. Pieces forming the corners of the frame are generally held together using 1-shaped plates (or other suitable connectors), whereby each plate fits into a respective rear-facing slot of each frame piece. The plate is wedged in place by driving a screw through the plate and against a face of the frame. Other plates are used for hanging purposes, wherein the hanging plates engage slots in the side pieces of the frame using the same screw technique. The hanger plates may have a loop to receive a wire for hanging, or act as a base to attach a D-ring thereto.
Because certain frames are metal and the Barnes' hangers require fastening to the frame body, these types of hangers are not easily adapted for use with metal frames. Therefore, a need still exists to improve the present day ways to hang wall articles that employ metal frames.
The present invention responds to this need by providing a metal frame-containing wall article hanger that easily fits into the slot in a rear of the metal frame. The hanger includes protruding and angled prongs that allows the metal frame to be attached to a wall surface my merely pressing the frame against the wall surface so that the prongs enter the wall and retain the picture in place.